


All I Want For Christmas (Is You)

by pizzagirl



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Darcy/Steve Holiday Fic/Art Exchange, F/M, Gift Giving, Holidays, christmas is the time for truth telling, hand-wavey nyc traveling distances, slight hypothetical spoilers for what could happen in Cap 2, timeframe after events of Cap 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 17:18:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1122449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizzagirl/pseuds/pizzagirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a more melancholy Christmas for Steve this year, after everything that happened when SHIELD had found the Winter Soldier. He just wants to keep things low key, and spends most of his time donating to Toys for Tots anonymously so it doesn't get spun into some PR event rather than just charitable giving. However, his holiday may be looking brighter when Darcy runs into him carefully avoiding the Barbie aisle at FAO Schwartz.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All I Want For Christmas (Is You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wertherscereal](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=wertherscereal).



> Written for the Darcy/Steve Holiday Fic/Art Exchange for this prompt:
> 
> \- Darcy finds out that Steve has been donating a lot and helping out with Toys for Tots, because he never had many toys growing up. He's keeping it quiet because SHIELD would want to make it a PR move/spectacle. Make it adorable.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

He neared the aisle of pink and hesitated. He’d done this twice already, but he knew sooner or later he’d have to suck it up and go down it. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders and was about to finally go when he heard the sounds of a piano, well, an electronic piano, playing a holiday tune. His curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to see where it was coming from, as it certainly wasn’t the piped-in music from the store.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Darcy couldn’t believe her luck. Granted, she knew it helped that it was closer to close so she didn’t have to have a group. But, getting a chance to dance around on the piano, the Big piano, was one of the things on her list of ‘Things to Do in NYC’ that she wasn’t sure when she’d accomplish.

 

She was just wrapping up her take on ‘Jingle Bells’ when she heard some shuffling behind her and could almost feel someone staring at her. She hopped on the note for the “oh what fun it is to ride” phrase, but then stopped and turned around. She grinned. “Steve!”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

When Steve had seen who was playing the large electronic piano, he couldn’t stop a smile from forming. The first time he’d met Darcy Lewis was shortly after she and Dr. Foster had moved into Tony’s tower. Steve didn’t live there, as he valued having his own private space and couldn’t imagine leaving Brooklyn, but Thor had invited everyone to a team dinner so they could meet his Lady Jane and Darcy.

 

He had heard about the events in London, and even if he hadn’t, Thor had shifted into his storytelling voice, which meant they’d all hear a version of the events, but not necessarily a truly accurate version. As Thor’s tale grew more epic, Steve noticed that Darcy had become withdrawn and that was a contrast to the bubbly, smiling person she’d been at the start of the meal. She then slipped away from the table. Steve had decided to follow.

 

When he had caught up to her, she had been sitting on a chair facing the floor-to-ceiling windows in an alcove in one of the many common rooms on that shared floor of Tony’s tower. At first Steve had thought she hadn’t heard him enter, but when she started speaking, even with her back to him, he knew she had.

 

She said listening to Thor talking about what had happened in London, especially in the way he tells stories, made her realize the enormity of everything -- everything she had said started with her needing six science credits to fulfill her general education requirements for graduation and being the only applicant for Jane’s internship. Steve knew she had tasered Thor when she first met him, as Thor was fond of recalling, but he hadn’t realized how exactly she had begun working with Dr. Foster.

 

When she finally looked at him, she’d had such a lost look on her face, and she’d asked why her, as she wasn’t anyone special. She didn’t have the smarts of Jane or Erik, or the strength of Thor, so she didn’t know what she would add by being there. Steve thought that was when he first fell a little bit in love with her, but he didn’t recognize it then.

 

He fell a little bit more in love with Darcy when she became his rock during everything that happened with the Winter Soldier. It turned out Darcy added a lot by living at Tony’s tower -- she kept the scientists, Jane, Bruce, and Tony, sane, and got along like a house on fire with Pepper, who convinced her to assist a bit with a few aspects of SI. But when she wasn’t wrangling science or SI, Steve found himself spending more time with her. She enjoyed exploring the city with him and didn’t mind listening to him talk about what had changed in the last seventy or so years. She introduced him to new movies and television shows, and when he had days when some of his memories seemed almost too overwhelming, she seemed to know exactly what he’d need -- whether it was to hold his hand, or give him a hug, or something completely different -- to work through the issues.

 

So when he discovered Bucky was the Winter Soldier, aside from informing everyone involved in the mission, the first person he called once he got to where he was staying in D.C. was Darcy. Darcy, who let him ramble, who he knew wouldn’t judge if his voice broke or wavered, and who wouldn’t tell him he was crazy for believing that Bucky was still there despite all of the programming. Even when it was all done, and Bucky’s personality emerged from brainwashing and the horror of all the things he’d done as the Winter Soldier dawned on him, and Steve told Bucky he could still come home, and Bucky disappeared, Darcy was there when Steve got back to his apartment, waiting for him, knowing he needed a friend who wasn’t an Avenger or SHIELD.

 

All of these things were running through his head as he saw her happily standing on the large floor piano, a teasing smile on her face.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

“Well, don’t just stand there! Make yourself useful!” Darcy said, grabbing his arm and pulling him over. His brows furrowed in confusion for a couple of seconds before she pointed at a certain key. “Step there.” He stepped on the note and recognized how it fit in the song. She stepped back off the piano and watched as he finished the song. When he was done, he turned around to face her with a huge grin on his face.

 

“Didn’t know you played, Steve-o,” she teased.

 

He ducked his head as the tips of his ears reddened slightly. “Don’t really, but my ma used to play when I was really little.” He walked back to the toy aisles and Darcy followed.

 

“Well, you seem to have a natural gift then. But this is kinda the last place I expected to run into you.”

 

He chuckled. “Bucky and I used to come here, well, not here specifically, but the original location, when we were kids. We didn’t have a lot of toys at St. Jerome’s, so coming to a place like this was just overwhelming, but in a good way.”

 

Darcy smiled at him. “I can only imagine. So are you here just to reminisce?”

 

“Ah, no, not really,” he admitted, glancing at the aisle of pink again. He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, looked down at the floor and sighed. “You’re a girl, right?”

 

She raised an eyebrow and smirked when he finally looked at her. She then lowered her gaze to her chest and again met his eyes, recognizing from the light blush on his cheeks that he’d also looked at her chest. “Last time I checked, yes. And don’t be ashamed that I saw you checking them out; they’re a nice pair.” The blush deepened.

 

“They are, I mean, ah, damn,” he began, and then crossed his arms over his chest. “I need help buying toys for girls.”

 

“You know someone with girls who needs toys?”

 

He shook his head. “No, it’s for Toys for Tots,” he answered quietly.

 

Without a word, she took his hand and together they walked down the aisle of pink. “Now this aisle can be pretty intimidating, even to me. It looks like somebody threw up Pepto all over it.” He chuckled. “But there are other parts that aren’t so bad, if you get away from some of the crazier Barbies. Did you have anything in mind, or any certain age ranges?”

 

Steve hadn’t let go of her hand yet, so he gave it a squeeze. “I’m pretty clueless, but something more for the younger kids, like under seven or eight?”

 

Nodding, she helped him pick out some dolls and stuffed animals. They then wandered to the action figure area where she found a really funny-looking Thor figure she decided Jane ought to have, and what was being marketed as a ‘World War II Captain America and Bucky’ set.

 

“I seriously can’t believe they’re selling those,” she said. “I thought you guys had an approval process or something.”

 

He shrugged. “It’s not bad. And we do, but I don’t think I’d have said no to this. It makes sense why something like this is out.” He wouldn’t buy it, but Darcy decided since there was only one left on the shelf, she would buy it.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

They share a cab back to Brooklyn, as Steve’s apartment is only a few blocks away from Darcy’s, and ever the gentleman, Steve has the cab stop at Darcy’s. He also vetoed the subway, despite the cost of a cab, because of the amount of packages he’s carrying. He helped her out of the cab, and then asked her to wait before she went into her building.

 

“I know it’s a bit late, but do you want to grab a drink?”

 

Darcy laughed. “A bit late? It’s not, really, and sure.”

 

He held out his arm for her. “It’s walkable, but just in case it’s icy.”

 

“Lead the way,” she agreed, threading her arm through his.

 

As they neared the restaurant, she noted it was walkable, but it was longer than she expected. She was glad her boots were sensible and cute, and while she hadn’t noticed any slippery patches on the way, she was glad to have Steve’s arm and warmth. Sure, she sometimes grumbled about his manners being a bit much -- she was very much a woman who could take care of herself thank you very much, did she mention she tased Thor? -- but he was so genuine in them that there was no condescension or ill will behind them.

 

He held the door for her as they walked into the place called Monte’s. The host said it was open seating at the bar, and Steve nodded at her to find their place. She liked to sit so she could people watch, and he enjoyed listening to her running commentary about the others around them. After they sat down, a server came over for their drink orders and took Steve’s toys.

 

“An extra bonus is that this place is also a Toys for Tots drop-off site,” he admitted sheepishly. The server returned with their beers. He immediately picked his up and took a long sip. “Before finding that out, I never thought I’d come into this place.”

 

“Really? I mean, this is the first I’ve seen it.” She took a smaller sip of her beer.

 

He focused on his glass, picking at the cardboard coaster it sat on. “This place has been around since me and Bucky were kids. You wanted drinks during Prohibition, this was where you went. Or so was the word on the street.” He smiled a bit bitterly. “It always seemed so glamorous, or at least the idea did.”

 

Darcy reached over and put a hand on his to still it. “It’s still pretty neat. Maybe we’ll have to try the restaurant sometime.”

 

He looked up at her and smiled. “I’d like that.”

 

“This is probably none of my business, but I’m curious. How’d you end up doing toy shopping for kids for Christmas? Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s a really, really good thing.” She smiled back at him.

 

“You know, with everything that has happened this year, Bucky being back and now gone, I guess I got to thinking about the past, especially around Christmas. Thinking about what I didn’t have, and what I have now. I wanted to do something to help, but also do it quietly without a lot of publicity. Just something nice, and I don’t think I could trust SHIELD to help me do something like that anymore.” He sighed. “The Toys for Tots thing is great, but I feel like I could do more.”

 

She nodded. “I completely understand your feelings on SHIELD. Kinda glad Tony snatched up Jane and Erik for SI before SHIELD got them, and I got swept up with that.” She paused, taking another sip of her beer. “And I totally get where you’re coming from on doing something nice just for doing something nice. This’ll stay on the downlow, I promise.”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

After they finish their drinks, they walked back to Darcy’s apartment. She asked him if he has any plans for Christmas, as Tony wanted to have a family-team party at his Tower. Steve said he may stop by, but as he has hinted, he feels a bit melancholy this year, and he isn’t sure he’d be the best company.

 

“Maybe being around friends would help?” she asked, again standing outside of her building. “I bet you’d be better company than you’d think.” She bumped her shoulder against his arm.

 

He put his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. “We’ll see,” he murmured, lightly kissing the top of her head.

 

As he let her go and she turned towards her door, she paused. “You said you wanted to do more, right?” He nodded. “I might have an idea of how to do that, but I’d have to involve Pepper. I know she’d keep it quiet. Is it okay if I ask her?” Again he nodded. She smiled, said goodnight, and walked into her building.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

She opened the door to her apartment and noticed her TV on at a low volume. She rolled her eyes as she hung up her coat and set her bag of purchases on her kitchen counter. She noticed the dirty dishes in the sink, along with the pizza box sitting on top of the stove.

 

“You may try and make it seem like you’ve been here the whole time, but I know that you haven’t!” she said loudly. She didn’t get a response, but she wasn’t expecting one. She grabbed the Cap & Bucky set box from the FAO Schwartz bag and walked into the living room. Sitting down on her favorite overstuffed chair, she tossed the box onto the nearby couch. This got her an ‘ooof,’ from the person lying there.

 

“He misses you.” She doesn’t look at the couch and instead watched the TV. “And I know you’re not stupid, and you probably followed me and heard all this because of your spy skills.” She got a grumble in response. “Don’t deny it, Bucky.”

 

He snorted. “I’m not, doll. I just don’t know what you expect of me.” He looked at the box she’d tossed at him finally, and does his best not to show any reaction.

 

“I expect you to finally get off your ass, stop mooching, and talk to him! Stop stalking him, like you’re bringing a Police song to life!” She turned to look at him now, gesturing wildly with her hands as her voice rose in anger.

 

He avoided looking Darcy in the eye. “I don’t mooch.”

 

She stood up and grabbed the Cap & Bucky toy out of his hands. “If that’s all you took away from what I just said, I stand corrected. You really are stupid.” She started to leave, but he reached out with his metal arm and grabbed her wrist gently.

 

“Darce, it’s just-,” he began.

 

She whirled around. “I can’t say I get it because I don’t. I don’t know what you went through for all those years. And then to get all those memories you never really had back, plus all your original memories, in one flash of blue, must have been overwhelming.” He nodded. “When Steve told me that, that he knew he got Bucky back, but that all the memories were there, and then you crushed the cube and disappeared, my heart broke. For him and for you. So all those months later when I found you in the alley behind here and you recognized me?”

 

“From when I was learning Steve’s patterns and habits,” he interrupted.

 

With a roll of her eyes, she continued. “Slightly creepy, but whatever. I was still very happy to see you alive.”

 

“And I was happy that you had Thanksgiving leftovers,” he teased.

 

She sighed. “But now, what’ll make me even happier is if I can take away the sadness in Steve’s eyes. And I think it’ll do good things for you, too. You may think you don’t deserve to be his friend anymore, but I guarantee you’re wrong.”

 

He gave her a small smile. “Well, we’ll see.”

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

As Darcy had promised Steve, Pepper was able to find a few more under the radar things for him that he could do similar to Toys for Tots. Soon, Steve was dressing up as ‘Santa Cap’ and going to various children’s hospitals with presents for the children who would not be home for Christmas. He was nervous about the idea at first, and Darcy offered to be an elf and accompany him. She’d reminded him that the hospitals weren’t going to publicize he was coming, but he said Santa should still have an elf. After the hospital visit, Darcy knew Pepper had found the perfect place for Steve. Seeing Steve’s smile after giving a child a present was the best. If she hadn’t already had a huge crush on him from the first time she’d met him, when he’d listened to her ramble about how scary everything had been in London and really, after meeting Thor, she’d have one now. However, at this point, she realized maybe classifying her feelings towards him as a huge crush was an understatement.

 

Besides visiting children’s hospitals, Darcy also suggested visiting some veteran’s hospitals and veteran’s nursing homes. Steve was a bit more reluctant about that, but Darcy had pointed out that at places like the nursing homes, some of the residents didn’t have anyone come visit them at holidays. Steve didn’t smile as much after these visits, but from how he kept her close to him afterwards, inviting her for a meal or over to his place to catch up on holiday movies, she knew he appreciated going and having her with him.

 

Prior to leaving for one the last visits before Christmas, Bucky had handed Darcy a note as she was leaving. He’d told her not to read it and to give it to Steve after they were done at the children’s hospital. She promised she would do as he asked, and leaned in to give him a kiss on his cheek.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

“Here,” Darcy said, giving Steve the envelope she’d had in her purse.

 

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Is this from you?”

 

She shook her head. “No. Just, just read it.” She walked away from him to give him the privacy she expected he’d need.

 

Steve opened the unmarked envelope and pulled out the letter. It wasn’t long, but as soon as he saw the handwriting, he felt some of the color drain from his face. Halfway through it, he looked up at Darcy, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. He then returned the letter and finished reading. He took a couple of deep breaths and re-read it, as he was sure he missed something the first time.

 

He felt Darcy’s eyes on him when he finished his second reading of the letter. When he looked at her, she was standing near him awkwardly. “So,” she began, her voice trailing off.

 

“This is real?” he asked. She nodded. “It’s really from him.” Again, she nodded.

 

“Did you need to go somewhere and talk about it? I realize this might not be the best place for that.” She gently placed her hand on his arm.

He gave her a half-smile. “You don’t know? We’re supposed to meet him somewhere.”

 

“We?”

 

He shrugged, smoothly slipping her hand from being on top of his arm to being under his arm and leading her down the hallway. “Well, me, but it’d mean a lot if you came with.” He stopped and looked down at her seriously. “I have a feeling you helped a lot with this.”

 

Darcy felt a blush rising on her cheeks. “Maybe, although I’m still not sure what all is in that letter.” His gaze was growing intense, and she looked away. He brought his free hand over and brushed his thumb across her cheek. A sudden clattering of a medical cart further down the hall reminded them of where they were, and the moment was lost.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

The place, a diner actually, Bucky had picked to meet them at was a short walk from the hospital. Darcy and Steve walked in, and Darcy immediately spotted Bucky. She whispered to Steve where Bucky was and told him to go over on his own. Bucky noticed this and nodded his head in gratitude to her.

 

Steve was about to slide into the booth opposite Bucky when Bucky stood up and pulled Steve into a hug. Darcy bit her cheek to keep from crying. She was now the one feeling a bit stalkerish, but decided she was invested in this, so it wasn’t so creepy. She could see Steve’s shoulders shaking and noticed Bucky’s grip tightening. She was thankful the diner didn’t have a lot of customers, so no one was staring at this display of brotherly affection. She gave a small wave to Bucky when she caught his eye, as she knew they needed to talk about things without her there. And given the fact that Bucky was still living with her, and her close friendship with Steve, she knew she’d get her chance to hang out with both of them soon.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

“She’s in love with you, punk,” Bucky said a while later, shoving a handful of fries into his mouth. The tips of Steve’s ears turned red. “Aha, I was right.”

 

Steve finished chewing his big bite of cheeseburger before responding. “Right about what?”

 

Bucky took a swig of his soda. “So I may have been following Darcy for a bit when she was out with you. It sounds kinda creepy, I know, but she knew about the few times I did it. And she called me out about it.”

 

“I should hope so,” Steve retorted.

 

Bucky held up his hands. “And I deserved it. I just didn’t think I deserved a friend like you.” He paused. “But as far as being right, I’m right about you being in love with her.”

 

Steve started to argue, but Bucky cut him off. “Don’t argue. It’s written all over your face.”

 

Steve sighed. “Am I really that obvious?”

 

“Yup,” Bucky replied with a nod. “Now what are you going to do about it?”

 

Steve chuckled. “Since when did you become such a master of advice?”

 

“Since that gal of yours started chewing my ass and giving me advice that turned out pretty damn good. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today.” He shrugged.

 

“She’s not my gal.”

 

“Yet,” Bucky said with a grin.

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Bucky, surprisingly, had agreed to go to Stark’s holiday party. He said he could be the reason for Steve, and likely Darcy, to need to leave early. He figured if this younger Stark was anything like his old man, he’d only be able to handle him in small doses.

 

Once at the Tower, Bucky had wandered off, giving some excuse of wanting to clear the air with Natasha. Darcy went to give Jane her Thor action figure, which left Steve standing in a living room type area with no idea if he should be doing something.

 

Pepper greeted him, kissing him on the cheek, and told him she’d heard good things from the hospitals he had visited. She said if he ever wanted to do something like that again, especially keeping things out of the spotlight, feel free to let her know. He was left standing alone again, but not for long. Natasha came out of nowhere, a sly grin on her face as she carried two glasses of what looked like eggnog.

 

“So Darcy got you your best friend back for Christmas, huh?” She handed him one of the glasses she was carrying.

 

He smiled. “I guess you can say it was a Christmas gift, but honestly, I’m just happy he’s feeling comfortable to be around people.”

 

“I’ll drink to that,” she agreed, taking a sip of the nog. “Darcy’s good with people.”

 

Steve nodded. “Yes, yes she is.” He let his gaze fall over the room, as he tried to see where she was. Natasha hmm’d in response. Just as he was about to continue, Natasha grabbed his arm and pulled him towards a hallway.

 

“What’s going on?” he asked. That was when he felt someone bump into his back. He felt Natasha take the nog glass from his hand, and he turned to see if the person who bumped him was okay.

 

“Steve!” Darcy said, putting her arms around him to steady herself. “Sorry about that. Bucky was dragging me somewhere and apparently doesn’t look out for other people.”

 

He looked around to see Bucky and Natasha back in the living room, smiling at the two of them. Bucky was pointing up. “Oh gee, what is that? Could it be mistletoe?”

 

Steve and Darcy both looked up at the same time to see that it was mistletoe. Steve wanted to be annoyed at Bucky, but he couldn’t. He was his best friend, and Steve should’ve guessed something like this was bound to happen when Bucky agreed to come to the party.

 

“I’m going to assume mistletoe’s been a thing for a while?” Darcy asked, trying to sound innocent as she batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.

 

Steve grinned. “You know what happens when you assume, sweetheart.” He put his arms around her now, pulling her in tight. Her eyes widened in surprise.

 

“Why Steve Rogers, are you flirting with me?” she teased.

 

His grin widened. “And what if I am?”

 

“Oh my god, shut up and kiss her already!” Bucky said with a groan. Natasha elbowed him.

 

Steve leaned down and gently pressed his lips against Darcy’s soft ones. Her fingers gripped his shoulders tighter as he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and she surged forward with more force, deepening the kiss. He felt like he was flailing for a couple of seconds, but he felt some sort of instinct kick in.

 

The kiss ended when they heard whistles and catcalls coming from the living room. Steve felt dazed and really wished they were somewhere more private so they could continue. Darcy turned to glare at the gawkers, giving them the finger.

 

“Got a little lipstick on ya,” she said quietly to Steve. She brought her fingers up to trace over his mouth, but all she did was smear the color more. “Damn, I might just have to kiss you again to get it to come off. But let’s try for not in front of a crowd?” She held out her hand.

 

He nodded, taking her hand.. He was having trouble forming words at the moment. He’d agree with whatever she said right now, as long as he’d get to kiss her again.

 

“Best. Christmas. Ever.” Darcy whispered in his ear as they walked away from the mistletoe. He nodded again. They sat down on one of the many loveseats in the living room, and he made sure he kept an arm around her to keep her close to him.

 

“I’m really glad you followed me out of the room the first time I met you, Steve,” she told him in a quiet voice. Others were talking now, as more people had joined the party. Pepper and Tony were under the mistletoe now.

 

He smiled at Darcy. “I’m glad I decided to follow you that day.” He leaned over and gave her another kiss, not caring that others were around. “One of my best decisions.”

 

“Agreed,” she said, grinning. “How soon do you think we can slip out of here unnoticed?”

 

Kissing her quickly, he asked, “Dunno. Should we make a break for it now?”

 

She nodded. “Sounds like the beginning of another good decision!”

**Author's Note:**

> The restaurant Steve takes Darcy to, Monte's, is an actual restaurant that has been around that long, and was a drop-off location in Brooklyn for this past season's Toys for Tots campaign.
> 
> I've not had the pleasure to visit NYC, so some of the distances, etc., are a little hand-wavey "it's a story" guestimates. Same goes for inside of FAO Schwartz. I did my best to find out what I could online.


End file.
